2005 Ford Escape Body Problems
- 351
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 351 stored complaint records:
- 2 indicate a crash
- 0 indicate injury
- 0 indicate fire
What owners report
- wheel well · 80 records
- passenger side · 36 records
- rear passenger · 31 records
- rear wheel · 28 records
- completely rusted · 21 records
- right rear · 20 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 100–150k mi | 157 |
| 60–100k mi | 81 |
| 150–400k mi | 66 |
| 30–60k mi | 12 |
| 1–30k mi | 3 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Body · Suspension · Wheels
Driving down the road and truck starting making a loud knocking noise in the back. When we got home, we looked underneath and found major rusting in passenger wheel well. Shock completely rusted free and bouncing up to hit the plastic inside the vehicle. Took it to body shop mechanic and upon inspection, he showed us that the frame itself is rusted through and vehicle cannot legally be fixed and is technically not…
ODI 11078493
Body
Hear a loud bang while driving. I found extensive corrosion on the rear passenger wheel well. I checked the other wheel wells and the other three are fine, no issues. This car is a little older, but there should not be an issue like this. This is a garage kept vehicle and is not out in the elements all the time.
ODI 11073869
Body · Service Brakes
Back wheel right wheelwell around shock rusted out, son drove home from school said back wheel making noise, upon further inspection took off back panel right side, found wheelwell rusted outby shock and can see daylight wheel was making noise when he drove home, had brake man look at found debris from panel in wheel where brakes are. Fixed and cleaned, checked brakes, put back together. Wheelwell rusted out . Want…
ODI 11065456
Body · Suspension
2005 ford escape. Heard bump followed by noise while driving. Checked car, found passenger side rear wheel well broken, upper attachment plate for shock absorber now in vehicle interior. Appears that wheel well rusted out from the inside: hidden from outside by undercoating in wheel well and hidden from inside by vehicle interior panels. 04 and earlier models recalled for same problem. Why no recall on 05 and newer?…
ODI 11062806
Body · Suspension
The passenger side rear wheel well and shock tower has excessively rusted out causing the car to be unsafe.
ODI 11073345
Body · Wheels
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. The contact noticed that the subframe was rusted, causing both front tires to lean. The contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the tires. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it diagnosed that the subframe needed to be replaced. The contact called van bortel ford at [redacted] and was referred to the manufacturer. The manufacturer stated that there was…
ODI 11048248
Body · Steering
After breaking while in traffic, my car swerved unexpectedly on to shoulder of the road and afterwards my steering wheel was at a strange angle. I immediately took my car to a repair shop where it was determined that the car had excessive corrosion of front subframe crossbrace and lower control arm resulting in a significant loss of steering control. A recall was issued on 2001-2004 ford escapes with the same…
ODI 11047419
Body · Suspension
Was driving at 40 miles an hour hit slight bump in road.sounded like whole back end falling off with loud bang. Stopped got out checked back end on right rear subframe holding strutt tower had seperated from frame causing shock and housing to come up inside of car. This complaint has been brought to fords attention. An they refuse to do anything about it. They should be made to fix this as many people are being…
ODI 11052999
Body · Suspension · Wheels
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. While driving 55 mph, the front passenger wheel protruded outward without warning. The contact was able to safely pull the vehicle off the road. The vehicle was not towed. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact reached out to an independent mechanic who went to the scene and diagnosed that the lower control arm failed due to corrosion of the front subframe. The lower…
ODI 11030560
Body
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the mechanic noticed that the passenger side rocker panel was disentigrated and a hole in the frame needed to be replaced. An independent mechanic stated that the vehicle could not legally be driven. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was…
ODI 11022887
Body
The grommet or plastic screw with a rubber gasket is so cheap it fell apart and out of back hatch window attached to the hatch and slid down on one side and almost completely detached from door which could have caused an accident glass flying everywhere and such! The other side is fine, still. This is something that should not happen and is a safety isdue. It could fall out then fly into traffic there's a number of…
ODI 11019895
Body · Suspension
The rear passenger wheel well has rotted out, leaving the shock hanging freely above the wheel, unattached. I first became aware of the issue as the car was driving on a city street, where i heard a loud bang in the back right of the car, and the noise continued as the car went over bumps. It was impossible to see the damage the rust was causing to the area until the shock mount came free, as the sealant used in the…
ODI 11005918
Body
Excessive rust under the wheel well/shock tower. While driving on the hightway the bumps caused the excessive rust to rip apart opening a gaping hole and seperating my shock from the wheel well. Upon taking my vehicle to the dealer i was told it was unsafe to drive and to park it. I was also told that this issue is known to ford and that they have not issued any recalls. Something needs to be done before someone…
ODI 11033423
Body
Front subframe rotting out. Large pieces of rusted metal are disengaging from the subframe cross memberas creating large holes as well as the crossmember k frame engine cradle. Two different repair shops have stressed not driving due to this deterioration. Has only 115000 miles and live in the rust states as specified in the 2004 recalls for the same problem.
ODI 11004272
Body · Suspension
The rear passenger strut was completely rusted out of the wheel well. The vehicle was sent to a ford dealer to install a "kit" and weld the strut bracket to the wheel well. I found the problem after hearing significant clunking noise in the back as i drove.
ODI 11005561
Body
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. While driving 25 mph, the contact heard a banging sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who had previously installed shock absorbers. It was diagnosed that the panels surrounding the rear passenger wheel well had rusted and loosened. The vehicle was taken to rapid ford (1510 s pokegama ave, grand rapids, mn 55744) where…
ODI 10992899
Body
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. Due to aggressive braking, the steering became off-centered at a ninety degree angle. In addition, the contact heard an abnormal noise. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the subframe failed and needed to be replaced. A 2005 subframe was ordered to repair the vehicle, but it did not fit and had to be changed out for a 2004 subframe. The vin…
ODI 10981120
Body
Right rear wheel well completely rusted out, detaching the shock where it attaches at the top. Entire inner wheel well needs replacement to repair.
ODI 10995474
Body · Power Train
While looking at your web site, i notice that there was a recall on my 2005 escape 3.0l, i didn't get a recall notice from the dealer and its 2017 and i'm the second owner,and now i find out that my passager side rear wheel well is rusted out by looking at all the wheel wells, cause i heard a hard bump sound coming from the back of the car while driving it on the streets. Now i notice that there is a shift level…
ODI 10970044
Body · Suspension
Began hearing terrible noise from rear passenger wheel well. Investigation revealed the entire wheel well and frame were rusted out. After replacing the wheel well and shock mount tower, still experiencing problems due to frame being rusted out. No longer able to drive the vehicle for safety reasons and it is headed to the scrap yard.
ODI 11190415
Body · Suspension
Purchased vehicle in april 2017 2 months later heard a banging noise from rear passenger side upon further investigation discovered the wheel well rusted out and the shock had came through. I continued driving it because i couldn't afford to fix it and it was my only car now there is no wheel well left and had to remove the shock.
ODI 11073001
Body
Despite many, many owner complaints, ford has never been made to recall the 2005 ford escape. There are rust issues in the rear of the car that could lead to unsafe operation. One example is shock absorbers that could come loose due to excessive rust on the frame. Ford has issued such a recall for previous model years, so they are well aware of the problem, but they never made any repairs to the 2005 escape models.…
ODI 10958562
Body
Passengers side wheel well has developed excessive rust. Support for shock/strut assembly integrity has been compromised. Vehicle is no longer safe to be driven without repair. Rust damage was concealed under rust proofing material.
ODI 10968861
Body · Suspension · Wheels
I was pulling out of my driveway, turned at the corner, hit a small bump and heard a loud banging sound like the rear gate door was not closed, stopped at the corner put it in park, got out and opened the rear gate and reclosed it, got back into my vehicle, turned left hit another small bump, and heard the loud banging noise again, stopped at the 4 way corner store, parked and got out and walked around my vehicle to…
ODI 10979412
Body · Suspension · Wheels
Passenger rear is rested shocks struts detached
ODI 10949085